I bet Hamilton has told F1: it’s Masi or me – take your pick
This weekend, Guelph’s Robert Wickens will be resuming his auto racing career in a professional class far below his talent level. Primarily an open-wheel driver with the talent to race in Formula One, Wickens took the IndyCar world by storm in 2018 and if fate hadn’t stepped in to block his progress, he would have been racing for Roger Penske by now. Yes, he was that good.
But as the result of a horrible accident at the Pocono Raceway in July 2018, Wickens lost the use of his legs. He suffered other grievous injuries, but bones and psyches heal. Despite more than three years of physical and psychological therapy, his recovery has plateaued. Wickens is no longer gaining muscle function and, barring a miracle, he won’t be able to walk again.
Like others, such as Alex Zanardi and IMSA driver Michael Johnson – who also lost the use of their legs and made a return to the cockpit – Wickens was determined to race a car again using hand controls. And that happened this weekend at Daytona when he teamed with fellow Canadian Mark Wilkins of Toronto to co-drive a Hyundai Elantra in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
To recap: a man with all the talent in the world had much of it taken away from him. He was determined to race again and worked doggedly to make it happen. At a certain point, he realized that what had happened to him was part of the game he was playing, so he set out to do the best he could with what he had left.
He does not feel sorry for himself.
There is another talented race driver out there these days who has the world by the tail. He is so good that he’s been able to win seven F1 world championships. He is paid an ungodly $55 (U.S.) million a year. He flies around the world on private jets, attends all the big Hollywood-type parties and he has a bevy of beautiful women on his arm everywhere he goes.
Lewis Hamilton – now Sir Lewis – has won and lost several of his championships under questionable circumstances. In 2008, he ran down Timo Glock in the rain on the last lap to win the championship by one point over Felipe Massa and more than one critic suggested Glock could have been trying a little harder at the finish, considering what was at stake. When he lost the title to his teammate, Nico Rosberg, in 2016, he was leading on the last lap. Rosberg was afraid that if he tried to pass his rival, Hamilton would wreck him. So Lewis slowed down in an attempt to force Rosberg back into the pack so that another driver would pass him, robbing him of the points to beat him. But nobody else bit and Rosberg took the checkers as champion. He promptly retired. Sebastian Vettel should have won Canada but was penalized by the stewards for cutting a corner and his season went downhill after that, handing Hamilton yet another championship. And then came Abu Dhabi in 2021.
The questionable circumstances took place at the last race of that ‘21 season. Hamilton and Max Verstappen went into that last race tied in points and as the Grand Prix wound down, Hamilton was winning. But a late-race caution, involving our own Nicholas Latifi, forced F1 race director Michael Masi to make a ruling that resulted in a one-lap shootout between the two front-runners: Verstappen (on fresh rubber) and Hamilton. Halfway through the last lap, Max made the season-ending pass that gave him the championship and triggered investigations and debates between F1, other drivers, officials and fans that continue till this day.
But rather than taking it on the chin, as all good losers do (Massa, when he lost the title to Hamilton by a point; Vettel after being screwed by the stewards), Hamilton went into a funk. Four days after the season ended, he refused to attend the Champion’s Dinner and has been the subject ever since of non-stop speculation about whether or not he will retire. He is said to be angry and disillusioned (although he gathered himself up enough to drive out to Windsor Castle to be knighted by Prince Charles).
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile has launched an investigation of what went on at that last race and Hamilton has reportedly said he will make a decision about his future based on that report. But it won’t – they say – be filed until the Thursday before first practice in Bahrain on Friday, March 18 (although, at time of writing, there are reports of ongoing meetings between F1 and the FIA).
The FIA and Mercedes are in a real pickle. It’s obvious that Hamilton has told the people who count that it’s either him or Michael Masi. If Masi stays, he’ll leave. If Masi goes, what does that tell F1 racing fans around the world about who’s in charge? The FIA has a new president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and you can bet the last thing he wants is to begin his tenure by being pushed around by a driver. And maybe Masi is the best race director out there and to do Hamilton’s bidding could put the sport in jeopardy.
So there you have it, a tale of two drivers. One who can’t walk but has the desire to go racing by using hand controls and not feel too badly about it and another whose world is his oyster but who can’t stand losing.
Guess which one is pouting?
Poor baby.
Norris McDonald, a past Wheels editor in chief, covers the Canadian automotive and global racing scene for the Star. He is a member of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @NorrisMcDonald2.
Keyword: Wickens vs. Hamilton: I can tell you which one is the winner